WAK 25

Chapter 25

Hyunsoo did not take his eyes off Hana as she walked away, glancing back at him once.

Seeing his older brother act wary around Hana was enough to make him even more curious about her. No matter what he did, his brother had always reacted with nothing but contempt.

Hyunsoo took out his vibrating phone from the inside pocket of his suit and answered it.

[It’s me. You know there’s a party today, right?]

“I told you, I’m not going.”

Even though Hyunsoo answered irritably, Sangjin was not bothered.

[You can’t skip it. Come later if you have to.]

“Haah…”

Hyunsoo let out a deep sigh.

“I know you’re all rich guys with too much free time, but aren’t you tired of those messy parties by now?”

Hyunsoo walked in the opposite direction from Jeonghan while continuing the call.

[Hey, you have a job, but we don’t.]

“Wow. What a proud thing to say.”

[Why are you so sensitive? Are you on your period?]

“I’m hanging up.”

Even though Hyunsoo spoke through clenched teeth, Sangjin only laughed cheerfully.

[Oh, right. I heard you moved.]

“A few days ago.”

[Why did you suddenly move? You loved that apartment in Hannam-dong.]

Thinking about the apartment in Hannam-dong naturally reminded him of Jeonghan. The reason he had bought that apartment in the first place was because his eldest brother owned the place.

“I didn’t move all my things out.”

[Then what is it? Is it like a second home?]

Hyunsoo thought of the new apartment he had bought and smiled mysteriously.

“None of your business.”

[When you tell me it’s none of my business, it just makes me want to know even more.]

Tired of Sangjin’s nonsense, Hyunsoo simply hung up.

His phone immediately started vibrating again.

“What?”

[Where are you?]

“Why are you so curious about everything?”

[If you’re near Gangnam, come later.]

Sangjin clearly did not know how to give up. Hyunsoo hung up again without another word.

Hyunsoo went down one floor and headed toward the hall where a play was being performed. He walked toward the actors’ waiting rooms and knocked on the door of the waiting room belonging to Jung Sua, a famous actress and a friend of his mother.

Meanwhile, Jeonghan and Hana bought a program booklet for the ballet Le Corsaire and entered the theater.

After sitting in their seats in the middle of the first floor, Hana spoke to him.

“It was hard to get these tickets. The good seats sell out quickly.”

“Do you like ballet?”

“I’m busy, so I only get to watch it maybe once a year, but I do like it.”

Originally, she had bought these tickets in advance because she had planned to watch the performance alone with Jooah.

“That’s unexpected.”

“Hehe, right? It doesn’t really suit me, does it?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. You’ve just never mentioned ballet before.”

“I guess we never had the right time to talk about it.”

Come to think of it, there was still so much they did not know about each other. Just as Hana had only recently learned that Jeonghan had a half-brother, he also did not know even the small details about her.

Perhaps because she was about to watch a performance she loved, Hana’s heart was beating pleasantly.

“Ah, I’m excited.”

Jeonghan was flipping through the program when he smiled and turned to look at Hana.

Like a girl praying, she had her hands clasped together and was staring at the stage behind the closed curtain.

To Jeonghan, her eyes seemed to sparkle.

It was strange how pleasant it was just to watch her enjoy something so purely.

“The tuning is starting.”

The musicians had come into the orchestra pit and began tuning their instruments.

Jeonghan rested his elbow on the armrest, turned his body, and looked only at Hana.

His gaze was so persistent that even Hana, who had been staring at the empty stage, could feel it.

“Why? My face is going to wear out.”

She gave him an awkward smile and glanced at him.

Without saying anything, he suddenly leaned toward her.

When their faces were close enough to touch, Jeonghan brought his lips near her ear and whispered in a meaningful voice.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to focus on the performance. I think I’ll keep getting distracted by you.”

Her heart dropped with a thud.

“…Don’t try anything funny.”

“Try anything funny? I’m doing my best to make you fall for me.”

“That’s exactly what I mean. You don’t really mean it.”

“Who says I don’t mean it?”

Hana narrowed her eyes at him.

Their eyes, which had been locked together at close range, broke apart when Jeonghan’s gaze slowly moved down to her lips.

Hana blinked quickly.

The buzzing sound of the instruments being tuned suddenly seemed very far away.

It was difficult for her to hide how strongly she was being drawn to him.

Jeonghan placed his hand over the hands she had folded neatly on her lap.

It was only his hand resting on hers, but she felt as if she could not move at all.

His thumb slowly and suggestively stroked the back of her hand.

He said he wasn’t playing tricks on her, but if this wasn’t flirting, then what was?

Hana frowned slightly and gave him a small glare.

Jeonghan laughed softly and playfully tapped the back of her hand.

When she nervously swallowed, the corner of his lips curved mischievously.

She was afraid someone might notice the strange tension between them, but at the same time, she found herself wanting their secret touches to continue.

His fingers slipped between hers.

Hana tightened her fingers around his.

They were only holding hands, yet she felt short of breath.

Feeling embarrassed, Hana gently bit her lower lip and stared intensely at the orchestra instruments, each making its own sound.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That you’re so good at making people’s hearts go up and down.”

“Hehe. It’s a natural talent.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The men in my family are like that. You could say we were born with a natural talent for seducing women.”

Hana tilted her head, unable to understand what he meant.

“Anyway, that’s how it is.”

The lights went down as the performance was about to begin.

While their fingers were still intertwined, Jeonghan secretly brushed his hand over Hana’s thigh.

He was only touching the skirt of her dress, but the effect was even stronger than touching bare skin.

Hana flinched and pressed her thighs tightly together.

He had touched the upper part of her thigh, but for some reason, she could feel a strange tingling along the inside of it.

She let out a warm breath and wet her dry lips with her tongue.

Part of her wanted to continue enjoying their secret game, while another part wanted to focus on the performance she had been looking forward to.

“Are you going to keep doing this?”

Hana barely managed to suppress the desire in her heart and pulled her hand away from his.

“What a shame.”

Jeonghan whispered lazily near her ear and withdrew his hand.

The curtain rose, and the orchestra began to play.

An expectant silence settled heavily over the audience, while an invisible tension filled the theater.

Hana fixed her eyes on the dancers as they performed their beautiful movements.

But Jeonghan’s eyes kept drifting away from the stage and toward Hana sitting beside him.

Suddenly, the Hana he had watched back in college overlapped with the Hana sitting beside him now.

Medora, the Greek girl who rescued the pirate Conrad after he was washed ashore from a shipwreck.

Back then, Hana had not been Medora.

But to Jeonghan, who had seen everything in a twisted and negative way, she had been like a place where he could finally breathe.

She would probably never know that he had been watching her for a long time.

And she would probably never know that, in her own way, she had saved him too.

After the performance, they went to have a late dinner.

While eating steak at a hotel lounge with a beautiful night view, Hana kept talking about the performance they had just watched.

Perhaps because she had seen something she loved, her eyes were shining brightly.

He enjoyed listening to everything she said, but watching her lively, sparkling eyes was even more enjoyable.

“When did you start liking ballet?”

“When I was in sixth grade.”

“Was there a special reason?”

“I just thought it was beautiful. The dancers on stage felt so different from me that they seemed mysterious.”

Back then, she did not know how difficult it was to be a ballerina.

Just like the desperate kicking of a graceful swan’s feet beneath the water, she had no idea how much painful effort dancers put in for only a few minutes on stage.

She simply loved the upright and elegant movements that were also full of strength.

“I think the first ballet performance I ever saw was when I was in my third year of university.”

With money she had earned from her part-time job, she made up her mind to buy herself a special gift.

That gift was a ticket to a ballet performance.

“But you said you’ve liked it since you were young.”

“I liked it, but I never got to see a real performance.”

He looked as if he could not understand, but Hana did not explain.

Someone born rich like him would probably never understand.

“So how did you fall in love with it?”

“It’s kind of funny.”

She paused for a moment because she was laughing, then continued.

“At first, I started liking ballet because of a comic book.”

“A comic book?”

There had once been a comic book that Hana had been completely obsessed with.

It was about the love, betrayal, and passion of a female lead who did both ballet and modern dance. It had just the right amount of dramatic and outrageous elements, which made it quite entertaining.

After reading that comic, Hana began admiring ballet.

She wanted to learn it herself.

But because of her family’s financial situation, not only was learning dance impossible, even going to watch a performance was something she could only dream of.

Her father did not bring money home for living expenses and spent most of his time outside.

Of course, things were difficult.

Hana was not the kind of person who kept longing for things she could not have.

She realized early in life that she had a talent for studying, and she studied like crazy in order to succeed.

That was how she got into the university she wanted.

While also majoring in law, she dreamed of a future where she would be financially successful.

All that time, she secretly loved ballet from afar and buried that love deep inside her heart.

The reason Hana only watched a ballet performance once a year was not just because she was busy.

She was also afraid that if she openly indulged too much in something she loved, the precious feelings she had for it might slowly fade away.

That was the kind of person she was.

She looked bold and confident, but she also had a timid and cautious side.

“Isn’t it amazing that someone can stand on the tips of their toes and dance?”

Normally, ballet was a precious hobby she kept to herself.

But in front of Jeonghan, she could not stop talking about it.

Jeonghan listened seriously to everything Hana said.

Until now, he had only watched ballet performances when it was necessary because he was sponsoring the arts.

But for the first time, he found ballet genuinely interesting.

After dinner, the two of them went for a drive to Namsan, where they could see the whole of Seoul spread out below them.

Listening to songs on the radio and silently looking at Seoul’s lively night view made the night feel special.

Hana rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window for a long time.

She had spent so much time running forward without stopping that she had never had the chance to look around her.

Even though she often got off work late at night, she wondered why she had never truly taken the time to enjoy the night.

Jeonghan was resting his chin on his hand just like Hana.

But he was not looking at the night view.

He was looking at her.

His gaze slowly moved over the side of her face and then traveled downward.

Her graceful shoulders.

Her long arms.

Her hands, with the joints of her fingers clearly visible.

Then his gaze slowly returned upward.

It finally stopped on her lips.

Jeonghan lowered his left arm, which had been supporting his chin, and reached his right hand toward Hana.

He slid his hand into her long hair and wrapped his large hand around the back of her neck.

When she turned toward him, he did not miss the moment.

He turned his body toward her and pressed his lips against hers.